AAA Liberty District

The AAA Liberty District is a high school conference in the state of Virginia that includes schools from Northern Virginia. AAA is the largest enrollment class of the Virginia High School League and also typically the most competitive level in Virginia high school sports.

The Liberty District schools compete in the AAA Northern Region with the schools from the AAA Concorde District, the AAA National District, and the AAA Patriot District.

About the district

The Liberty District was founded in 1993 as part of an attempted realignment of the AAA Northern Region. The charter members were all Fairfax County schools, which were Fairfax, Falls Church, Langley, Lee, Madison, Marshall, and McLean High Schools.

All Liberty District schools are part of Fairfax County Public Schools except for Stone Bridge which is part of Loudoun County Public Schools. Currently the members' attendance zones stretch as east as McLean, as south as Alexandria, and as north and west as Leesburg.

The smallest member is Marshall with roughly 1,400 students. The largest member is Woodson with about 2,100 students. Marshall and South Lakes are both considered to be AA in size by the VHSL, but have elected to play up in the Liberty instead in order to maintain traditional rivalries and avoid the lengthy travel times that would be necessary if they played in the AA Dulles District.

The Liberty District contains most of the smaller AAA schools located in the western part of the Northern Region and six of its eight members play Division 5 football. Langley and Woodson play Division 6 football, but are the two smallest Division 6 schools in the Northern Region, and were bumped up to Division 6 when Hayfield of the Patriot District fed a considerable amount of its student body into South County.

Member changes

The Liberty District has experienced the most change of the four Northern Region districts. In 1996, the Liberty District moved Falls Church to the National District to reunite it with its primary rival Stuart, but added Broad Run and Park View High Schools of Loudoun County who played in the AA Northwestern District. When a new Loudoun County high school opened in 1997, both Broad Run and Park View were AA size again and moved down to AA in 1999, but Woodson was added to reunite it against its rival Fairfax. In 2003, South Lakes joined the district, bringing the Liberty back to eight teams.

In 2005, the Liberty went through a significant change by removing charter members Fairfax and Lee to the Concorde and Patriot Districts respectively. Its geography expanded considerably eastward and westward by adding Jefferson of Alexandria from the Concorde and Stone Bridge of Ashburn from the AA Dulles District. In 2009, Fairfax will return to the district, bringing it to nine members.

Athletics

Athletically, Liberty schools are best known for the strength of their swimming, cheerleading, field hockey, boys basketball, and softball teams with many of their members winning Northern Region and/or state titles in the last few years. All Liberty District members field teams in all VHSL sports--with the exception of field hockey and indoor track at Stone Bridge, since Loudoun County Public Schools currently does not sponsor those as varsity level sports.

In terms of overall performance in athletics, the district has had two top 10 finishers in the AAA Wachovia Cup for Athletics since 2005, with Stone Bridge in 8th place in 2005-2006 and Jefferson in 8th place in 2006-2007.

Academics

Liberty District members are very strong academically. All of its members are above average performers in the state on standardized tests and all offer rigorous curricula for their students which include courses in AP and for the IB programs. Jefferson is one of the nation's top magnet schools in science and technology. Langley, Madison, McLean, Marshall and Woodson High Schools are consistently the highest performing comprehensive high schools in Fairfax County and also are among the best in the nation.

The Liberty is one of the strongest districts in the state in VHSL academic activities. Langley, Jefferson, and McLean finished in the top 10 for the AAA Wachovia Cup for Academics in the 2005-2006 school year placing 3rd, 4th, and 7th respectively. Marshall was 12th and Woodson was 19th.

2007-2008 district champions

Fall Sports Regular Season Champions
*Cheerleading: Langley
*Boys Cross Country: Jefferson
*Girls Cross Country: Jefferson
*Field Hockey: Woodson
*Golf: Langley
*Football: Stone Bridge
*Volleyball: LangleyWinter Sports Regular Season Champions
*Boys Basketball: Langley
*Girls Basketball: Madison
*Girls Gymnastics: Jefferson
*Boys Swimming: Langley
*Girls Swimming: Madison
*Boys Indoor Track: Jefferson
*Girls Indoor Track: Jefferson
*Wrestling: LangleySpring Sports Regular Season Champions
*Baseball: Stone Bridge
*Boys Lacrosse: Langley
*Girls Lacrosse: Stone Bridge
*Boys Soccer: Jefferson
*Girls Soccer:
*Softball: Langley
*Boys Tennis: Jefferson
*Girls Tennis: Jefferson
*Boys Track: South Lakes
*Girls Track: Stone Bridge

AAA athletic and academic team championships won by Liberty District schools in 2007-2008

*Boys Cross Country: Jefferson
*Division 5 Football: Stone Bridge
*Scholastic Bowl: Jefferson

tate champions since 2002-2003

:

*includes schools only when they were in the district

Member schools

*Langley Saxons, McLean
*Madison Warhawks, Vienna
*Marshall Statesmen, Falls Church
*McLean Highlanders, McLean
*Thomas Jefferson Colonials, Alexandria
*South Lakes Seahawks, Reston
*Stone Bridge Bulldogs, Ashburn
*Woodson Cavaliers, Fairfax

Former Liberty members

*Broad Run High School (now in the Dulles District), played from 1996-1999
*Fairfax High School (now in the Concorde District), played from 1993-2005. Will return to the Liberty District in 2009-2010
*Falls Church High School (now in the National District), played from 1993-1996
*Lee High School (now in the Patriot District), played from 1993-2005
*Park View High School (now in the Dulles District), played from 1996-1999

External links

* [http://www.sportscombine.com/default.asp?af_id=276 DigitalSports Northern Virginia: Gives coverage on all Liberty schools and the Northern Region]
* [http://www.gamedaymagazine.com TCC Sports: Gives in depth information on Northern Region schools, mostly on Stone Bridge]